APPEND.] 



CAQUETRO. 



353 



From the fibre of the outward rind of the coco which 

 is called cairo, may be made all kinds of cordage; even 

 cables are manufactured from it. 



The only means by which the fibre of the coco rind 

 can be obtained, are by beating and maceration ; before 

 the rind is put into water to steep, it ought to be beaten 

 for the purpose of loosening its texture, principally that 

 of the outward surface, which is hard and compact ; and 

 this should be done that the water may penetrate with 

 more ease. After the first operation, it must be left 

 to steep for two or three days, and then should be 

 beaten ; and this should be continued until the separa- 

 tion is accomplished; great care, however, should be 

 taken that the rind of the coco be not allowed to dry. 

 Because I have observed, that if this occurs, the lig- 

 neous fecula or spongy pulp, which is found intermixed 

 with the fibres, adheres still more strongly to them. I 

 have likewise remarked, that from the rind which has 

 been recently taken from the coco, the fibre is much 

 more easily extracted than from that which has been a 

 long time separated from it.* 



The rind of 40 cocos rendered me Gibs, of cairo. The 

 annual produce of the coco-groves of Itamaraca is 

 360,000 cocos, more or less ; and according to calcula- 

 tion these are capable of yielding 1 680 arrobas of pre- 

 pared cairo. The island of Itamaraca is three leagues 

 in length, and the coast is alone planted with coco-trees, 

 and if these are thus productive, what might not the 



* At Pillar, upon the island of Itamaraca, the persons who are in 

 the habit of preparing the cairo, dig holes in the sands below high 

 water-mark, and bury the rind of the coco for several days before 

 they beat it. I suppose this method is resorted to, owing to the 

 want of a running stream in which to steep the rind. — Transl, 



VOL. II. 



A A 



